


Bet your life

by cherryflesh



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Dragons are manipulative dicks, Dubious Consent, Human Smaug, M/M, Poor Bilbo, Size Difference, Smaug is a psychopat, Thorin Oakenshield Being an Asshole, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 11:35:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryflesh/pseuds/cherryflesh
Summary: Bilbo's meeting with Smaug goes slightly different. Our sassy burglar makes a dangerous wager... and loses. Will Bilbo be able to match wits with Smaug, and will the great fire drake learn mercy?





	1. Lost

The Arkenstone shimmered among the gold and Bilbo chanced a quick glance before turning back to the colossal fire drake.

”I am almost tempted to let you take it”, Smaug hissed softly. ”If only to watch Oakenshield suffer.”

A gigantic claw slammed into the ground next to Bilbo and the hobbit fell back. Struggling to his feet, a black tip of one claw clacked an impatient staccato against the stone.

”You amuse me, barrel-rider”, Smaug continued, his voice keeping the velvety smoothness but gaining a sinister edge. ”Care to make a wager?”

Bilbo’s eyes lit up with interest. Battling a dragon was a fight he was doomed to lose, but matching wits with one? He was confident he would come out on top.

”Always, O Smaug”, he replied breathlessly.

A lipless maw parted in a toothy grin.

”Excellent”, Smaugh purred. ”Take the Arkenstone.” When Bilbo hesitated, a dark chuckle echoed in the halls. ”Go on. I shall not punish you, little thief.”

Bilbo swallowed hard and reached for the shimmering jewel, picked it up with a shaking hand and held it tight.

”Now… if you gave the Arkenstone to the filthy dwarves, if you tossed your _friends_ what they came for… would they come back for you?” the fire drake asked him softly.

Bilbo huffed, licking his lips nervously. It was no battle of wits after all. It was a gamble on faith and trust.

”I believe they would not, you see. Your so-called _friends_ would leave you behind without a single glance back.”

” _No._ ” Bilbo’s denial was strong and vehement. ”They would never… they would never leave me behind.”

”Ahh…” The dragon’s exhale was like a sigh of contentment. A lazy flick of its tail sent a cascade of gold coins down the side of a fallen pillar. ”Would you bet your life on that, luck-bearer?”

Bilbo squeezed the stone tightly in his fist, grimly aware that he had walked into whatever trap Smaug had laid for him.

”I would”, he stated, chin raised and proud that he was able to keep the tremor out of his voice. He hesitated for a moment. ”If I win… if, I mean when, they come back for me… will you let us go unharmed?”

Smaug dipped his head in a slow nod.

”Indeed I will. If the _filthy_ dwarves do not leave the mountain upon receiving the Arkenstone, but enter these halls to retrieve their little _friend_ … I shall let you return to them, and _no_ harm will befall any of you.”

It sounded too good to be true, it really did. Bilbo swallowed hard, tried to work out Smaug’s angle.

”And… if I lose?” he asked in a small voice.

”If they leave the mountain when they get their dirty little hands on the Arkenstone, if they do that without attempting to retrieve you… you are _mine._ ”

Bilbo drew a stuttering breath and everything in him screamed to back away, to _not_ make that deal. But how could he not? How could he justify not taking it? Not getting the Arkenstone when he could, and more importantly, _not_ trusting his friends?

The great scaly head lowered until he was staring into the peculiarly shaped pupil in the huge burning eye.

”Well?” Smaugh demanded. It seemed that its patience was at an end.

”Forgive me, O Smaug…” Bilbo began, his knees buckling under the sheer pressure of the gaze alone. ”What do you mean ’yours’?”

Another toothy grin, indeed, Bilbo couldn’t shake the feeling that the dragon was leering at him.

” _Mine_ , little thief. Everything _you_ , your very life, will be _mine_ until I choose to end it.”

”I-I see.” Bilbo nodded frantically, trying to push back his instincts to just drop the Arkenstone and run. ”Very well. I accept.”

Smaug reared up, the great wings rattling in excitement, producing a sound like thunderclaps.

”Ssplendid!” it hissed, the last part of the word echoing through the space. A clawed paw reached for Bilbo, half clenched so that it provided a crude cage for Bilbo to cling to. When the halfling stumbled back the drake hissed impatiently. ” _Come_ , thief. Let us put your precious friendship to the test.”

Bilbo did as he was told, pocketing the Arkenstone before straddling one of the sharp, black claws, clinging to it for dear life as the drake used its other claws to climb up the stone wall, pressing itself through passages that led up upwards and before long they came out on a hidden stone balcony. They heard a loud conversation at a distance, but it was still too far away to make out the words.

”Remember now, just toss them the stone. Do _not_ say anything, or I shall burn them all”, Smaug murmured.

Bilbo nodded. Surely his friends had heard the calamity inside and drawn the conclusion that Smaug was wide awake. So he reached between the claws and gently tossed the stone down a grassy slope, hoping that the stones luminescence would alert the dwarves. He could feel the heat of the dragon’s scales. Most reptiles were no warmer than room temperature, but most reptiles didn’t breathe fire.

Before long he heard excited voices, and he smiled, holding his breath.

”Let us leave.” Thorin’s voice, deep with satisfaction.

”What about Bilbo?” Balin sounded more sad than incredulous, as if Bilbo was already dead.

”We got what we came for. Smaug may have eaten him already, and might go back to sleep. It is the best we can hope for.”

_N-no…_

Bilbo’s fingers dug into the warm scales. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. The claw tightened around him slightly as Smaug turned and crawled back through the passages.

”Do not fret so, _my treasure_ ”, it breathed. ”I shall take good care of you.”

 


	2. Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So that's it huh? Thorin left poor Bilbo to deal with Smaug alone. Fortunately, we know Bilbo isn't one stay down for long. Which, you know, may or may not endear him to a certain treasure-hogging reptile...

Smaug flicked his mighty claw and a moment later Bilbo tumbled down a golden dune of coins that tinkered as he slid to a halt. He got to his feet unsteadily, adrenaline sweeping shards of his broken heart aside to allow him to concentrate.

_They left me._

_Focus._

He _left me._

_FOCUS._

Smaug swept around him in a wide circle, long neck sweeping through the air. Half-lidded eyes watched him lazily.

”Did you think they would come for you, thief in the shadows?” the fire drake said, booming voice dripping with mock sympathy. ”Did you think _Oakenshield”,_ it spat, as if the very name left a foul taste in its mouth. ”, that greedy usurper, would challenge _me_ over _you._ ”

Bilbo said nothing and it came to a halt in front of him, towering over him with its neck in a graceful arch and wings splayed on either side of it. Slowly its head sank down, flaming eye regarding him closely. A long tongue flicked out, nostrils flared.

”You _stink_ of dwarf, barrel-rider”, it sneered. ”I shall burn your rags and dress you in jewels…”

Bilbo opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. The great dragon sneered.

”Cat got your tongue?” it snickered, then huffed. ”Go. Wash the false king off your body.”

”Y-yes, alright”, Bilbo said, not daring to meet the burning gaze. It was too soon after the betrayal of his friends. Smaug would no doubt see his pain and exploit it for his own amusement. So, head hung low, he slunk away to wash.

A while later, after wandering from room to room for quite some time, he finally found an old well. It took every bit of his practical hobbit nature to devise a way to haul the water and some reasonable way to wash. He briefly toyed with the idea of fleeing but suspected he wouldn’t get very far. Smaug’s temper seemed easily ignited and he didn’t want to raise the dragon’s ire. Instead his thoughts turned towards surviving.

Would the old living quarters have beds? Books? Tools? Clothes? How much was ruined by time and neglect?

He washed his clothes too. If he smelled like dwarf, washing himself wouldn’t help much if he wore the same dirty clothes. Leaving them to dry over a metal railing, he walked naked into the inner rooms, hoping to find something. Anything. What he found made him wish he hadn’t. In the innermost living quarters he found piles of bodies, dried up corpses covered in spiderwebs and dust. Survivors of the battle so long ago, when Smaug took the mountain. He could see them, curled up and hiding, too afraid to move. To run. Trapped by the their own terror, filling their cramped space with malevolent whispers as they slowly succumbed to starvation…

He shivered in the cold air, his naked skin prickling with goose bumps. Rubbing his arms, he gingerly stepped between the bodies, fighting a wave of nausea.

How could Thorin leave him like this?

_The gold sickness. He’s not himself…_

Gold sickness, though. A dry inner voice insisted that it was nothing more than simple, base _greed_ that had overtaken his friend’s soul. And he couldn’t, _couldn’t_ easily forgive him for that.

Pushing the thought out of his head, he tried once again to be practical. Clothes were out of the question. Even if he could stomach scavenging from the dead, and that was a big ’if’, time had ruined the fabrics. Even the beds he found was of little more use than tinder for a fire. What he did find was tools. Hammers, knives, axes. Pots, plates and bowls. Things he could potentially use.

”Are you there, _thief_?” Smaug’s voice rolled through the stone halls like thunder and Bilbo cringed.

”I am”, he called out, walking out into the treasure hall, opting not to upset his captor.

” _There_ you are.” The fire drake’s voice dripped of smugness and assumed superiority. It grated on Bilbo’s nerves but he said nothing as Smaug moved closer, upsetting the piles and piles of gold and jewels. Flaming eyes regarding him smugly. ”Ah, you threw away your coverings.” A head as big as his house dipped down to sniff him. ”An improvement, treasure.”

Bilbo tried to focus on his distaste for being deemed a mere object, but the voice run through his very being like a scorching wind, leaving him light-headed and vaguely alarmed. Having the dragon’s half-open mouth so close to his bare skin should be enough to make him bolt, but instead he stood his ground, bravely ignoring fangs as long as his arms. He had a feeling that his feigned courage had not escaped the fire drake.

”I made you a nest”, came the prideful hiss somewhere above him as the scaly head rose high and the colossal creature strode away. Sweeping his eyes over the golden landscape, Bilbo could just about make it out in the gloom. A seemingly random pile of furs and fabrics, intricately woven cloaks trimmed with the softest fur. Obviously dusty and aged, but less worse for wear than the clothing on the withered corpses. Here and there jewels were scattered, as if the dragon had collected things that visually pleased it with little or no regard for what was practical and what was not.

Bilbo knelt in the makeshift nest, relieved by the softness of the furs, a sharp contrast to the harsh metal. He shouldered one of the cloaks, pulling it tight around him to chase away the chill in his body. For some reason the momentary relief made his eyes tear up.

”What do you say, _little thief_?” Smaug wanted to know. ”Is it not the most _luxurious_ nest you have ever known? Is it not the _finest_?”

Bilbo took a deep breath, but couldn’t keep his voice steady as he replied.

”Y-yes.” He hesitated, then continued. ”I’m c- _cold_.”

Silence stretched, broken by the occasional tinkling of moving gold as Smaug shifted. For a moment he thought he might die, that the fire drake had at last grown weary of its game. Then the giant reptile body swept around, curling around his nest in a circle. A hissing rattle, and the scaly chest begin to smoulder and glow as fire build within it. Suddenly it radiated heat and Bilbo greedily leaned closer to capture the warmth.

”There.” The voice echoed, bounced between the stone walls. ”Is that better?”

”Yes”, Bildo sighed, letting the cloak drop from his shoulders. It was remarkable how much of a difference it made, not being cold. ”Much better. Thank you.”

He got a short respite before the dragon spoke again.

”Entertain me, _treasure_ ”, Smaug murmured, stretching long claws. ”Show me why I traded the Arkenstone for a _hobbit_.”

Bilbo had not considered it quite like that, but he supposed it would make sense from the dragon’s point of view. Drunk on the comfort of warmth, he smiled up towards the graceful arch of the long scaly neck, of the glowing embers far above him.

”O Smaug, the Enormous…” If he had death around the corner, he might as well see how long he could evade it. ”Let me tell you a story about barrels.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hereby promise that the last chapter WILL have dragon/hobbit smut. Steamy even. I'll make it happen. But I'll be honest - I think I'm gonna have to turn Smaug, like, VAGUELY humanoid for it to happen. If you expected a proper, dragon-sized, dragon-shaped dragon to fuck a hobbit... well, I'm really sorry. If it was AT ALL possible, my brain would have definitely solved that mystery (weird sex combinations is what it does best).
> 
> ANYWAY, let me know what you think! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo... I ADORE this pairing. Please let me know what you think! <3
> 
> It may or may not get very dark, but I'll keep adding tags and I promise you here and now that there will be a happy Bilbo/Smaug ending. Yup. :3


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